Production-control system



Feb. 24, 1931. J. E. FISHER 1,794,007

PRODUCTION CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Jan. 18, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l u @U @U /zor/z? o @422,3 SWITCHSHAF'T o o c EL en O O O 0 O 0 o O L gg -A-- o N ooo o 11" Q C; b ooo ooo Q 5 ooo OOO w ooo ooo ooo N U ooo j ooo (D [D O w @@U ooo ooo YELLOW Fel 24, 1931. .1. E. FISHER PRODUCTION CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Jan. 18', 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 50X. EN 1 ik QN lim,

Jahn EFzshEr l Patented Feb. 24, 1931 .rotin Artnr orrici:

PANY, INC., 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A. CORPORATION 0]? DELAWARE y PRODUCTION-contraer. SYSTEM Application led. January 18, 1930j Serial No. 421,564.

the irovision of aneflicient and reliable system of inexpensive construction and simple or eration for regulatingrand controlling; the progress in the production of manufactured articles or piece parts.

In the production of manufactured piece parts or articles, it has been heretofore `the lpracticeto employ a number of clerks Whose `sole duty it Was to constantly schedule and take care of the progress records of the various manufactured parts in their sequence of operation throughout the various departments of the manufacturing company. This method entails considerable Work in checking the records, and in addition would not he atvall times available at the proper time to the person most concerned in the proper supervision of the manufactured parts. It is accordingly an object of this invention to dispense with theclerical Work of this nature and eliminate the obgectionable progress records. i

lnthe previous methods of controlling th manufacture of piece parts, it Was impe., for a supervisor `of a certain group of niachines or departments to be aware any time of the enact status of a particular manufactured object or product, Without consuming' a great dealof time in checking` over the visor Would notbeaware ofthe number of subsequent jobs which he Will have under his supervision, or he Would not be aware at any time ofthe exact status of any particular job or manufactured product so that he could not properly supervise the actual Work being done on the job or know to which assistant operator hernight assign the subse-o,

` quent job to.` The l foregoing is therefore a Vto large factor in retarding the eflicient production of the articles.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to el-unlnatethe' aforesaid objectionable In addition, the super` features of previous systems of production control, and provide a system wherein the supervisor of a particular departinentof a Inanufacturing,` concern vvould instantly and at all times be aware oit' the exact status of any particular job and its relation with rcspect to any subsequent or previous job which heinay now be supervising, so that he will be relieved of checking all progress netords and be better able to supervise manufactuu ing of the products Without concerninghimself with minor details.

A feature of this production control sys# tem resides in the provision of a control board or raclr, centrally located, and having removably mounted thereon a plurality of small detachable card holders or sections having job tickets each of Which corresponds to a particular job." These sections are arranged in consecutive order on the control board and indicate toa supervisor all the necessary data concerned with the production of a particular maiulfacturod product. A further feature of the invention resides inthe provision of a plurality of multiecoh through the various departments `which are to do the Work` on this particular 1nanufactui-ed product. 1

Theabove and other objects and features, not specifically pointed out vrillbe evident from the detailed description ivhich tenet-hor with the drawings, constitute a preferred cinbodiment of the invention; In the drawings' comprising two Fig. lillustrates a section of afront elevation ofthe control board or rack` with a num- FISHER, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 AMERICAN ELECTRIC CODI- l sheets, l

ico

' and "13 arranged on opposite sides.

board are more readily apparent.

F 1g. 2 illustrates a single card holder or panel having a job ticket mounted thereon with the necessary manufacturing, information and in addition a numberof various colored pegs inserted inthe side of the panel.

Fig. 3 illustrates a side elevation of one of the pegs in order to show its construction.

Fig. 4 shows a flat leather bag whichV is routed through the lvarious departments with the manufactured product, andfhas a holes on the lower pocket forrblue prints vand other data, and

in addition on the front thereof, a'celluloid cover under which the manufacturing lay- 'outV and a duplicate of the job ticketis in.. sorted.V A* f Y j. Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1,

f this illustrates a section of the control board,

which it will be appreciated can be enlarged or extended to any desired height or width desired to accommodate more or less card holdersand in accordance with the number of different manufactured products or jobs which arefto be controlled by' a particular department or group of departments. This control board is preferably of rectangular or square shape and comprises angle iron braces 1 arranged on each of th-e sides and riveted together so 'as to rigidly hold the board and the various parts together as a unit. Mounted at intervals horizontally across the board are square-shaped bars of iron 2, which separate the vario-us vertical Vrows of card hold- Mounted fonthe back of each bar 2 is an irregularshaped hat metal mounted plate 3 upon .which the card holders 16 are mounted. `.These particular mounting.,` plates are arranged vertically across Athe rear of the controlboard and behind each bar 2. On each of the vertical proiections of the mounting plat-es 3 there are bayonet slots 12 arey for the purpose of removably accommodatingthe cardholders 16 by means of screws 14 and -15 projecting from the rear of 'each card holder. The head of each screw isinserted in the holes 12 and 13 and thenA moved downward into the slot so tb the card holderwill be locked in position. The card holder or panel 16 reconstructed of phenol liber orbakelite and isofrectangular shape. At eachV end of the card helder a metal vplate 17 and '18 Yis. riveted for the purpose ofY accommodatcard holder 16, three `rows of holes 2 0, 2l and 22 aredrilled,throughthe holder. l l

' A number of colored trays 7, 8, etc., are

ymounted along thef'lower edge of the`V control board. -Tliese'trays serve as containersf'foi' the associated colore'dfpe'gs Awhenthey are These ing 'a job ticket. Y At the.r lower portion of the A not in use. The pegs, as illustrated in Fig. 3, are round and have a short portion of their length tapered so as to set into the holes in the card holder. They are knurled so that they can be easily inserted into the holes and slightly twisted so that they will not easily fall out. The pegs are coated with a colored enamel and each color corresponds to a particular operation to be performed on i the. pi-ece part.

Each card holder, as has been stated, has

Yprovisions for holding aso-called job ticket,

for example, job ticket blo. 216. This'numer is assigned to a particular order for a piece part which is` tobe made and indicates Q it other necessary manufacturing data, for

example, immediately below-thek job ticket No. 216 is a character 2M, indicating that there are two thousand parts to be made. VThe numerals 04.-03-04-18-24 indicate the number of the departments andtheir order in which the particular part is to be manufactured. Below the department lnumbers the characters B2-R2NP+Y ist-he code which indicates the number of pegs and their colors; B2 indicating twoblack pegs, R2 indicating two red pegs, N one nickel peg, P pink peg, and Y'one yellow. Below Vthe color code the work Stock indicates that the manufactured part is to be placed in stock or indicated onjob ticket No. 214 the piece parts destination is New York, and after this the sales order number.Y At the upper right-hand corner of the jobticket the date of the orderis placed. Immediately below this, the number 50461 indicates the manufacturing4 order number.) TheV character l-310526indicates the drawingnumber of the particular piecepartto be manufactured, Y and below this the'words tg. plate,indi

parts, as will be readily understood. TheV various vcolored pegs'are insertedjin the first horizontal row of holes of the card holder in accordancewith the code number printed on the job ticket as will be later onpointed out. Y Y

Referring now to Fig. ,o the leatherrbag 30 has a pccketlin wh" 'h the shop drawings or blue prints 32 inserted. These drawtorthe dimensions, finishes, etc., of vthe part to be made. On the outside of the leather bag 30 the manufacturing Vlayout 33 and a duplicatecopy 34gof the job ticket Ais mounted Si O . ings give complete information to the shop as ug. am

` in"`p'ocl ets Withtrans arent Celluloid covers bag and all therecords it contains is conveyed With the material throughout the various departments until'the parts are comdensed-description of each operation and the tools required to completeit together with the finish. This layout` or schedule is standard 'for each partto be made and is used' also on all other similar orders; The departments which are to do the Work are listed in the lefthand column While those tovvhich the co1npletedoperation is tobe delivered to are listed in the right-hand column. It will be understood, of course, `that the various and different pieceparts to he manufactured are'each made in a different manner and different operations `performedon themV andf, therefore, each of theseV job tickets and layouts Will'not necessarily have the same `manufacturing informa tion printedon them.` i

The complete operation of theproduction control system in connection with the control board `will now he described,v from the time that the order is received up to the complete Afinished product. In the example to `he illustrated the job ticket No. 216 Willbe described. 'l/Jhen an orderis received for a ,particular piece partf to be manufactured'in p the pro-duction department, the leather "bag This manufacturing layout',

3D1-is first fittedout including the manufacturing layout inserted on the front' thereof. as has heen 1 stated, furnishes thenecessary information for each departmentandtheoperation it is tol` perform onythis piece part.` The joh ticket is made in duplicate and is given: the

number 216 and*` alllthe necessary information thereonis takenl from the manufacturling'. layout; Both copies are placed on the `front of therleather below the layout card. Likewise, the necessary blue prints and other information#is inserted in the `pocket andthe leather'bag'islthen routedto `the raw material department;A The stool;

` "room or department'l'as illustrated, furnishes the necessaryfraiv material and' routes vthe bag together' Witlithe material tothe first department on thelist, `which in thisin fstance'is 04. `The production.planner `who has charge oflthisfcomplete control hoard "and the assignment of the various ,joh tickets on 1to1 the' control board,` is notified `viewed from their end, it would be inconcardholder in a. position so that it Will` be the last one on the board. In this manner all the joh tickets with their numerals will he arrangedon the control board in consec`u tive order, the last order received being the last" oneplaced on the board. q

After the job ticket No. 216 is placed in position on the control board, the production plannernotesthe color code on it which indicates the hind'and number of operations to be performed, `and picks out the corresponding colored pegs from the trays T, 8, etc. Thesehc removes from the black tray and insertes in the first and second holes of the first row ofthe card holder immediately bcloW the joh ticket. R2 indicates two red pegs and he places them in the third and fourth holes ofthe first row.; N indicates one nickel colored peg andtliis is placed in the fifth hole ofthe first row; P indicates a pink peg and this is placed inthe sixth hole; `Y is the final pepr and this is placed in the seventh hole of the first row. y

It may be stated that, at this time,` due to the fact `that the pegsshown in Fig. `l arc venientl to illustrate the colors of them b v cross-acting as indicated in Fig. f2. and for this Vpurpose the first letter of the color is indicated in a circle representing the endof the As has been heretoforestated, these colored `pegs represent certain operationstohe performed `on the particular piece part and auf. number of; combinations of the following color code, which is given as an example.i may he made gfB or black indicates apunching or forming` operation; N indicates nichel which is a bench oiJerationv such as filing..- R indicatesred which is a drillingor reaming operation; P indicatespink Whichis af1nilling operation; G indicates green which is an automatic screw machine operation: W indicates White for hand screw machine operation; and Y indicates yellow Which is a finishing operation such `as plating or en-` ameling.` Each of these operationslmay be performed hy different departmentsortwo or `more may be performed by the` samedepart- `ment7 for example, the color .code Bindicat ing punchingand forming, is performedhy f the department 04s, N isla hench: operation which is alsoperformed hv this department. A` red peg` indicatesdrilling and "reaming i and this is `performed hy the department O3.

VFrom the above information it will be seen that job ticket No. 216 calls fortwo black pegs in the first hole and these indicate operations to be performed by the department 04.

These loperations are punching, representing the first peg, and forming, representing the second l peg. Y The third and' fourth pegs which are red represent a drilling and a reaming operation performed by department 03. The fifth peg which is nickeled, indicates a bench operation performed by O4' whichhas done previous work on this piece part. The sixth peg, which is pink, represents a milling operation performed by department 18, while thel finishingy operation, indicated by the yellow peg in the seventh hole, indicates that this work is tobe performedxby department 24. c

From the foregoing it will be seen that the departments are to perform different kinds of operations on this particular piece part in the order indicated by the pegs in thegfirst row, and the order in'which the departments are listed on the job ticket indicates the order in which the particular piece part must be sent through the shop to be produced. l

Each department after receiving the parts to be produced, from another department,

vwill perform'the particular work done by it anddo it in a lmanner as indicated on the manufacturing' layout. The duplicate job 'ticket No. 216 attachedV to the leather bag 'indicates to the person that is to dov the work on the piece part, just which jobticket is associated with it on the control board. In this `manner the control board job ticket is associated at all Vtimes with any particular job. y' Y The foreman or supervisorof, for example,

department 04, is at all times `aware by consulting the control board of any new job y which is placed upon the jboalrd 'and also knows the exactstatus of every job which he has" anything' tol do with. Noticing the job tickety No. 216 and that his'department 011 is first on the list, and also noting that the first black peg in'the top row represents aA punching'operation, he removes'thepeg from `thefirst'row of holes and'pla/ces it inthe first holeof thesecond row.V Thisindicates thaty the machine which is to do the work is about to be set up and he informs the operator of the machine which is to perform'the Y punching operation to set up the :necessary tools and be prepared to receive this particularpiece part and perform the punching operationon it. When the operator receives the stock'of piece parts and is tov actually perform v the work kof punching out the piece parts, vwhich in this instance on j ob ticket No.

Y 216-are mounting plates, he removes the: first l black peg'from the second row'andinserts it -in thefirst hole ofthe third row. f

Y From theforegoing it is` seen that all th pegs in the first row indicate that 'certain lthe machine is being set up oris set up to do the necessary work on the piece part, and

when the peg is'in the third row the work is actually being done on the piece part. lt will 'also be seen that while all the pegs are arranged in consecutive yorder in the first.

row of holes, not more thanone peg at a time can be in either the second orY third rows'.

After the operation has been, completed on a particular part, the peg'is removed from the last row of holes and vplaced into its assoeiated color tray, it being-no longer needed.

As the particular piece part is routed from department to department with each -particular'department performing a certainoperation, Ait will be seen that the pegs are moved one ata time from the first row to the second row, then to the third row, and finally into the tray. Vhen the last oryellow peg, which indicates the finishing operation Von the part, is removed from the last row of holes and placed natray, the piece part has been completed by the departments. Job ticket No. 216 is then removed fromthe card holder and together with the leather bag of Fig. 4 is sent back to the Vrecord department where it ispiaced on file. Y'

It will be appreciated that dierent piece parts to be made `differ radically in construction and in the number of operations and kind of operations to be performed on them. It, therefore, follows that each job ticket has differentV information on it than any ofthe other j ob tickets. For example, job ticket No. 214 has been indicated as partially routed through the various departments and indicates first four blackpegs, two operationsof whichhave been completed on the piece part, one black one being run, anothervblack operation in which the machine is set up, and a red operation indicating the neXt operation to be performedonthejpart. Each job ticket' on the" control boardy will be in a dierent state from anyfof the others because all of themarchines are not operating =at=the same speed ywhile ticket"l*lIo.-.189y has one white operation and one redoperation completed; another red operation being worked on; a pink operation in which a machine is setup; andk another pink operationwhich is v,to follow,;tog'ether with a nickel and a yellow -or nishoperation. Therefore, all of the jobs are indifferent stages of completion andl the supervisorof any department or a group of' departments is instantly aware of the condition ofeany part which'is to be manufacturedby him and he knows byconsulting the'job'ticket at what v stage of the operation the part now is. He also knows what kind of an operation is to be done and the order in which it is to be done,

and in addition knows which department-is` to do the work. `He can, therefore, plan his work `and set up the machines so that none of the machines will at any time be idle as long as thc control board contains any job ticket. i

. As fast as the work represented by the job tickets and their associated` pegs have been completed, they are removed from the control board thereby leaving a blank space on it. Due to the numerous operations on any particular piece part, it maybe some time before it is finally completed and therefore several blank spaces appear throughout the control i board when jobs requiring few operations are ranged subsequently. In this manner blank spaces are provided each day after the last card holder so that new job tickets may be added as the orders are received by the planner.

`From the foregoing it is seen that no written records or progress records are required or that any clerical work is necessary except that the supervisorwho is concerned merely with his own particular group of Inachines or department `has control of the various operations indicated on the job ticket,

' and any official is at all times aware by merely glancing at the control board, of the amount of work being done in any department and how fast any particular piece part is being manufactured, and what its condition is at that time. v

When any particular piece part represented by a job ticket onthe control board requires immediate action or is urgently needed out of the regular turn in which it is set up on the control board, a blue transparent sheet of celluloid` is inserted over the job ticket, such as the celluloid sheet 2G on job ticket No. 215. This indicates to the supervisor of the department having reference to this job ticket, that this particular ordermustbe taken up before any subsequent or previous orders have been completed. y

When a particularmachine, represented by job No. 214, for example, is set up and breaks down ont an operation, or when there is a change of design of the piece part tobe manufactured, a sheet of red` transparent celluloidV 25 is inserted over the job ticket 214. ThisA is anindioationthat the work on this jobhas been temporarily held up and further work on its will be suspended.

It will be obvious that there may be any number of variations from the example illustrated, such as the different operations performed on the diiierentpiece parts and also diifercnt piece parts routed to different departments. Likewise, this production control system is not necessarily limited to the production of any piece part as it may be applicable equally as well to assembling divisions or any other group of departments, and it will be appreciated that this may be used in any manner desired. It, therefore, follows that it is not necessary likewise that the various colored pegs represent diderent operations on a particular part, they may be associated with the various steps concerned with the assembling of a complete unit which may be a piece of machinery or any other assembled product.

Numerous possible modifications are possible with this type of production control system, and it is therefore not desired to be limited to ,the exact construction shown and describedbut only by the scope of the appended claims. i

lVhat is claimed is:

l. In a production control board, a mounting frame, a plurality of card holders removably attached to said frame, a job ticket removably mounted on each of said card hol'ders, each of said card holders having a series of rows of holes in the holder below said 0b ticket, a plurality of different colored pegs insertedin the holes of said card holder, each colored pegrepresenting a particular operation to be performed, the position of the colored pegs in the row of holes indicatingthe progress made on the operation corresponding to said peg.

2. In a production control board, a mounting frame, a plurality of card holders detachably secured to said mounting frame, job tickets inserted on `said card holders and placed on said frame in consecutive order, said job ticket having information printed thereon corresponding to the number and kind of operations to be performed on a particular part to be manufactured and the various departments which are to do the work, said card holders having rows of holes positioned below said jobticket, different colored pegs inserted in said rows, each of said pegs corresponding to a particular operation to be performed on said part as indicated on saidjob ticket, the positions of said colored pegs in said holes indicating the progress being made on the associated operation, said pegs being removed from said card holder 1 after said operation had been completed, and a plurality of colored trays corresponding to said pegs mounted on the lower edge of said frame for holding said pegs when not in use.

3. In a production control board comprislili] be manufactured completed.

ing a' supporting fraine'fhaving angle iron sides and a plurality of verticalspaced rods, a yvertically disposed mounting plate attached to each of said rods, a plurality of card holders removably attached to said mounting plates and arranged in consecutive order between each row ofA rods, ob tickets Ycorresponding topa particular part to be manufactured inserted in each of said card tickets in numerical order and having information thereon; indicative ofthe manner and kinds of operations to be performed on said piece parts to be manufactured, said card holders having a plurality of rows of holes positioned below its associated job ticket, a plurality of colored pegs in said holes corresponding to the information of said j; ob tickets and associated with the kind and ynumber of operations to be performed on said partto be inan- 'ufactured, a plurality of various colored trays mounted on said mounting frame on the bottom thereof and corresponding to said colored pegs, said pegs being removed from said holes in the card holder when the ope-ration corresponding to the peg isf completed and placed insaid trays when not in use, said card holders and associated job tickets bre-V ing moved forward on said mounting frame when the intermediate cards and card holders have the operation onthe associated part to 4. ln a system for controlling the production of manufactured piece parts wherein a mounting` frame has detachably secured thereto a plurality of'card holders each hav# ing inserted thereon a job ticket and all arranged in consecutive order on the mounting frame, said Job ticket having'inforination thereon relative to the number and kinds of operations to be performed on the piece part and also the `depaitinent affected thereby, each of said card holders having a plurality o frows of holesbelow said job ticket and av plarality of colored pegs corresponding to the kinds and number of operations to be performed inserted in the lirst of said rows of holes in the order in which said operations are to be performed, the second row of holes indicating that the operations are ready to be performed on the piece part', while the third row of holes lindicates that the parts are actually being operated on or in use and means for moving said pegs one at a time from said second to said third rows when said operation has been completed.

5.1n a production control systemjfor` regulating the operation and the production of piece parts to be manufactured, a control board comprising a frame having a plurality of card holders detachably mounted thereon,4

job ticketsinserted on each of said card holders and arranged on said board in consecutive order in accordance with the order inwhich said cards are'placed on said control board,

mation relative to the'number and kind of operationsto beperformedV on piece parts also the various department-s concerned with the operations thereof, eachV of said card holders having a plurality of rows of holes positioned below the associated job ticket, a plurality ofcolored pegs Vinserted in said holes and-corresponding toparticular operations as indicated on said job Yticket and arations from departmentk to department as in-v dicated on said job ticket` 6.- In a system for controlling the production and operation concerned with the manufacturing of a plurality of piece parts a con` trol boardcompri'sing a frame having a plu rality of' vcard holders detachably securedthereto, job tickets inserted on eachof said cardholders and arranged on said frame in consecutive vorder in accordance with the order in which they are received, each of said job tickets conveying information thereon relative to the'kind andnuinber of operations, thedepartmentswhich are to do them, and the piece -number and the title of the particular piece part to be manufactured, each of said cardholders having a' plurality of horizontally disposed rows of holes positioned below said job ticket, a plurality of colored pegs of a different color Vand associated with a particular operation indicated on said job ticket, said pegs being arranged consecutively in the'first of said rows ofholes in accordance ywith the order in which said operations are to be performed, said pegs being moved from one of said rowsof holes to the next in accordance with the progress being made on the various operationsperformed so that an trolling the variousl operations concerned with the manufacture of piece parts, a control board comprising a metal frame havingV a plurality -of card' holders detachably se-V cured thereto, job tickets associ-atedwith each of said card holders and having information thereon relative to the kind and number of operations to be performed on a particular piece part, each of said card holders having a plurality of rows of holes positioned below said job ticket, a plurality of various colored pegs associated with a particular operation as indicated on said job ticket inserted in consecutive order in said holes, said pegs being moved one at a time from one row of holes to the next in accordance with the progress made on the particular operation, said job tickets and card holders being arranged in consecutive order on said control board in such a manner'that the first one placed thereon is the first one to betaken care of and a transparent colored marker placed over any of said job tickets to indicate that a particular job is to be worked on out of the y regular order.

8. In a production control system for controlling the various operations concerned with the manufacture of piece parts, a control board comprising a metal frame having a plurality of card holders detachably secured thereto, job tickets associated with each of said card holders and having information thereon relative to the kind and number of operations to be performed on a particular piece part, each ofsaid card holders having a plurality of rows of holes positioned below said job tickets, a plurality of various colored pegs associated with a particular operation as indicated on said job ticket in-' serted in consecutive order in said holes, said pegs being moved one at a time from one row Y of holes to the next in accordance with the progress made on the particular operation,

said job tickets and card holders being arranged in consecutive order on said control board in such a manner that the first one placed thereon is the first one to be taken care of and made,` a transparent colored marker placed over any of said job tickets to indicate that a particular job is to be worked on out of the regular order, and a different colored transparent marker placed over an associated job ticket when said job is temporarily held up due to break down of machines or a change in tool design.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe ryoname this 13th day of January, A. D.

JOI-IN E. FISHER. 

